The High Noon Antiques and Western Americana Show was filled to capacity from start to finish with robust buying reported from the over 200 dealers who exhibited.
The centerpiece of the weekend, as always, was the High Noon Western Americana Auction that was held Saturday evening.
There was barely an empty seat in the house with over 1,000 floor bidders waiting to raise their bid cards for the chance to win one of the 329 exceptional lots of Western Americana art, artifacts, cowboy and memorabilia from the silver screen. LiveAuctioneers.com provided Internet live bidding.
A top prize was the Lady Yule Visalia saddle from Gleannloch Farms (Lot 231). A triumph in functional art, this 1930s masterpiece in tooled leather from the Visalia Stock Saddle Co. also featured exquisitely engraved sterling silver by Schaezlein of San Francisco. The saddle ensemble included a fully matching bridle and dazzling breast collar. The provenance was equally rich as this saddle was made for Lady Ann Yule, considered to be the wealthiest woman in the world at the time.
This saddle came to the sale with an estimate of $60,000-$90,000. It opened at $30,000 but furious bidding from the floor, phones and Internet quickly escalated the final sale price to $141,600.
The evening was filled with “over-estimate” surprises. A pair of Jesus Tapia spurs (lot 279) got off to a quick start. Considered to be the Holy Grail of California spurs, this circa 1920 pair came to auction with an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000. Bidding opened at $25,000 but finished at an astounding $153,400.
Proving again that cowboys of the silver screen of years past are still worth their weight in gold, Lot 179, the Colt .45 used by James Arness in his iconic role as Marshal Matt Dillon on TV’s Gunsmoke, sold for $59,000, over five times its high estimate. Larry Hagman’s legacy to the sale (Lot 8) was his personal custom-made Edward H. Bohlin hand-tooled briefcase, toppled its high estimate of $11,000 selling for $20,060. And an important pair of Tom Mix’s personal California batwing chaps, (Lot 237) estimated to sell for up to $16,000, achieved $29,500.
In fine art, Frank McCarthy’s oil on board titled Where the Rocks Meet, (Lot 214) sold for $29,500, well over estimate.
Native American items commanded significant results with Lot 205, a Northern Plains pipe tomahawk achieving $26,050 against its $12,000 high estimate, and Lot 211, a stunning Navajo sand painting rug, sold for $22,420, well over its $15,000 high estimate.
For complete information call the offices of High Noon at 310-202-9010.
Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.
Click here to view the fully illustrated catalog for this sale, complete with prices realized.
ADDITIONAL LOTS OF NOTE
